Culmstock

Old stone bridge with pedestrian refuges over River Culm at Culmstock

Culmstock is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon, England, centred 10 miles from Tiverton and 6 NE of Cullompton. It is laid out on both sides of the River Culm; the village is joined by a single old narrow stone bridge across the river. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 554.[1] The northern boundary of the parish forms part of the Devon – Somerset border and clockwise from there it is surrounded by the Devon parishes of Hemyock, Uffculme, Burlescombe and Holcombe Rogus.[2]

Historically, in minor matters of law and taxation, Culmstock contributed to Hemyock Hundred. It saw prosperity as a centre of weaving and the wool trade, but this prosperity, and the relative population to that nationally, declined considerably in the latter part of the Industrial Revolution.[3] The population was around 1446 for the forty years before the 1841 census but fell in the next 40 years to 863. In 1961 after a non-linear descent, the population was 692, broadly similar to today's total.[citation needed]

1588 signal station above village at Culmstock Beacon, built to warn of the Spanish Armada.
  1. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Map of Devon Parishes" (PDF). Devon County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Culmstock". Devon County Council. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.